The Israeli ambassador to Venezuela was expelled after Hugo Chavez, the president of the Latin American nation, set a deadline for Shlomo Cohen and some embassy personnel to leave.

West Bank clashes

Angry Palestinian protesters have clashed with Israeli police in Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

Fist fights also broke out between Hamas supporters and members of the rival Fatah party of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, in Ramallah. The Israeli security forces used teargas and batons to disperse the demonstrators.

Israel had placed the West Bank on a 48-hour lockdown, prohibiting movement into and out of the Palestinian territory until Saturday except in emergency cases.

In Kenya, police used water cannons and tear gas in an attempt to disperse hundreds of people who had gathered outside Nairobi's Jamea mosque to express their soldarity with the Palestinians of Gaza.

"No to shedding innocent blood," "End the massacre in Gaza," and "Israel, stop killing innocent people," read some of the placards.

The protestors tried to march towards the Israeli embassy in the centre of the Kenyan capital, but were stopped by a heavy security deployment.

Six people were injured and 31 were arrested when 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters attacked a pro-Israeli demonstration in Oslo, police said on Friday.

During the clashes, considered to be the worst in more than two decades in the Norwegian capital, anti-Israel protesters threw Molotov cocktails, rocks and eggs and burned Israeli flags, Johan Fredriksen of the Oslo police said.

Police were also on high alert in Greece, where protests against the Israeli offensive have been planned.

Boycott call

In Malaysia and Italy, critics of Israel's Gaza assault have called for a boycott of Israeli and US goods.

"We cannot remain silent about what is happening in Gaza. We had thought of drawing up a list of businessmen who have links with Tel Aviv because people do not know who they are," Giancarlo Desiderati, a member of a small group of Italian traders who called for the boycott on its website, said.

At least 5,000 people protested outside the US embassy in Malaysia on Friday, and around 300 held a noisy protest outside the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur to urge Arab countries to cut off oil supplies to the US and boycott goods from Coca-Cola, Colgate and Starbucks.

Addressing the crowd, Mahathir Mohamed, a former prime minister, told Malaysians that they "will not die if they do not use the US goods" and urged those working for US companies such as fast-food giant McDonalds to quit their jobs.

"I hope Starbucks and McDonald's employees will stop working there," he said.

Coca-Cola officials said any boycott would only hurt the local economy and its citizens.